Hi Laurie,
I have recently watched your tendonopathy and teres major vids and I am confused about whether it is ok to pull up sore after exercise or not. The tendonopathy vid said it was ok, but in the teres major you said the rule of thumb is the dog should not come back from the walk more lame then it set out. Is that because it is within the exercise vs post?
Specifically I am concerned I am doing the wrong thing in the below case (my dog, not the shoulder one, whole house broken atm!)
Pulled up hopping lame LH about 7 weeks ago post agility training. Pain on very gentle extension of P3 digit 4. Treated with rest, trigger point (cranial tib and peroneus longus) leash walking PEMF (no other modalities here)-oh except she had shockwave x4 difficult as seemed painful to do and she was wriggly. Improved, pain only on full flexion of P1/2 digit 4. Assumed tendon not joint (?) Added in 3 leg standing, backwards downhill walking, then off lead running after warm up again 2 weeks ago. Pulling up ok, still mild pain on full flexion of that toe. Started doing agility stuff again this week-started with no bars, flatwork, contacts, weavers then upto full height jumps mon and today. She did the agility nicely-fast and seemed happy and comfortable. However after each session she had a couple of lame steps when getting up and still pain on full flexion of that toe. I thought you had indicated that this was ok but now I am not sure. Plan was to resume trialling this weekend (2runs sat and sun) but keep the amount reduced still.
Please help! Very high performing dog.
Thanks!!
Kriszty
Confused!
Re: Confused!
Hey Kriszty,
So, you have to think about the difference between controlled exercise and general exercise. I still use the rule of thumb, "don't come back more lame than how you went out" when prescribing walking as an exercise. But walking is not specific to a tendon. So if it was a supraspinatus tendon, and you prescribed down hill walking, then, yes, some increase in pain would be acceptable.
If the same dog came back lame after 30 minutes at the off leash park, that is no okay.
The difference comes down to specificity when rehabbing an injury.
As for your toe. Pain with flexion is darn near always joint (not tendon). The extensor tendons are rarely damaged. So in the case of your dog: 1) you need to treat it like a joint sprain - with your therapies and recommendations. 2) she may need a slower return to sport and/or additional therapies (even if gentle toe traction and mobs after sport and/or icing). To me, the dog isn't quite 'out of the woods' yet.
I hope this helps!
Laurie
So, you have to think about the difference between controlled exercise and general exercise. I still use the rule of thumb, "don't come back more lame than how you went out" when prescribing walking as an exercise. But walking is not specific to a tendon. So if it was a supraspinatus tendon, and you prescribed down hill walking, then, yes, some increase in pain would be acceptable.
If the same dog came back lame after 30 minutes at the off leash park, that is no okay.
The difference comes down to specificity when rehabbing an injury.
As for your toe. Pain with flexion is darn near always joint (not tendon). The extensor tendons are rarely damaged. So in the case of your dog: 1) you need to treat it like a joint sprain - with your therapies and recommendations. 2) she may need a slower return to sport and/or additional therapies (even if gentle toe traction and mobs after sport and/or icing). To me, the dog isn't quite 'out of the woods' yet.
I hope this helps!
Laurie
LAURIE EDGE-HUGHES